Is anyone out there?

He’s a funny guy

My husband.  Don’t try to figure him out.  On my birthday, I got a diamond necklace.  On Valentine’s Day…nothing, nada, not a card or flower in sight.  This weekend…he’s planned a romantic get away at a honeymoon chalet for the two of us! 

He doesn’t like to be forced or pressured into being romantic just because that day says you have to (well, that’s his reasoning! He likes be spontaneous and I so don’t). So, after 16 1/2 years of being married to him, I don’t get upset or hurt if he doesn’t acknowledge holidays like Valentine’s, he’ll just make up his own. 

Make my day…

 In response to Shannon and Charmin’s blogs and it being February 14th….here are 14 things that “spark my day”.

1. Waking up to a clean kitchen…no dirty dishes in the sink, clean counter,etc. This just gives me a thrill.  It is well worth staying up late to make sure the kitchen is cleaned up after a get together.

2.Creating something…whether it’s a scrapbook page or a card.

3.Salty stuff…popcorn, chips, pretzels (chocolate covered pretzels are even better).

4.Getting a great deal on something.

5.I am going to steal this one too….kids getting along.

6.A phone call from my hubby just to say hi.

7.A revelation from God either thru prayer or reading my bible.

8.A long, soak in the bathtub.

9.A good hair day…ha, ha!

10.Organizing something…a closet, a drawer, you get the idea.

11.A successful homework night with the boys.

12.Marking something off of my project “to do” list.

13.Spending time with friends and family.

14.A clean bill of health.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

My last blog today!

I was at the dentist with the boys this week.  The dental assistant, who I haven’t seen since all this cancer stuff started, told me she loved my new short haircut and where did I get it cut!  I thought this was hilarious. I guess I am moving into a new phase of this journey.

An Update on Viper, the snake….

Last June Andrew earned the priveledge of having a snake.  After months of having a difficult time obtaining “pinkies” or food for the snake we purchased a female hamster to “marry and raise a family” with our male hamster. In November, several weeks after the wedding, the snake went MIA, yup missing, yup somewhere in the house.  Randy and I tore the boy’s room apart looking for it but so far he hasn’t turned up.  We have been told he can “hole up” and hibernate for months on end. Yikes! So shortly after the snake goes missing the happy couple (of hamsters) produce a large family (11!).  In hopes that the snake will show up soon we took the babies and put them in the freezer (I am cringing as I am typing that).  We then did that we the second and third batch as well.  With the snake still MIA I let the boys raise her fourth batch to adulthood.  They had great fun watching the babies grow and finally a few weeks ago we took them to the pet store to find new homes.  The day we dropped the babies off we put the Daddy hamster back in with his love.  He is quite a smart hamster and unfortunately for him he is able to open the locked caged door and that night he made his escape and went exploring. The next morning we found him down stairs on the mat.  Apparently, our two cats play a little too rough.  While I felt sorry for the poor guy, I thought phew, that will be the end of the baby hamsters. Not! Momma had a litter this week of 10….I guess it was his parting gift to us!

Anyone want a hamster?

The Hippycups

I loved when Sara would come up to me and say, “Mommy, do you have the hippycups?”.  Her way of saying hiccups.  Or when she would ask for a “ola bar” aka granola bar or a “dork” instead of a fork.  Recently the boys taught her how to say hiccups correctly and quite frankly I was a little upset with them.  I don’t want her to grow up!  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to have a twelve year old with a speech impediment but with every new lesson learned she is growing up bit by bit.  I am losing my little baby and it doesn’t seem like I have had her that way for nearly long enough.  But growing up is inevitable so I am going to be grateful and thankful for the times I did have and learn to love and enjoy all these new phases in her development.  It’s just that hippycups was so darn cute!

My old site

I am not able to load all my old postings from my other blog site onto this one…something to do with google.  So I have set up a link on the blogroll at your right.  All you have to do is click on “My old blog site” and it will take you there.

I am working on putting up photos.  Andrew took a recent one of me with hair so I can show all my “away” friends and family how much it has grown. Stay tuned…. 

I’m Back!!

I just got the kids into bed and thought I would sit down and give this new blog a try.

Well life is starting to get back to normal.  My burns are healing, I’m getting my “energy” back (along with some hair) and I’m not running back and forth to appointments.  Life is good!  My hair is somewhat darker than before so “Nice and Easy” hair color and I are going to become good friends. Ha!  The texture is very different than before too.  I wouldn’t say my hair is curly but it has a curly texture if that makes any sense and the strands are thicker.  Only time will tell what it will finally turn out like.  For now it just looks like a really, really short hair cut.

My appointment with the Naturalpath went well and initially she did not recommend taking the Tamoxifin.  She wants me to eat organic as much as possible to avoid pesticides and cut out dairy and reduce meat intake to avoid the hormones that are naturally in animals.  The dairy is going to be a real hardship for me because I LOVE milk, cheese, yogart, sour cream,butter……! So I am drinking rice milk and trying to enjoy it.  I have to completely cut out all white sugar from my diet….it is proven to feed tumors! She has recommended a number of suppliments like fish oil, melatonin, vit c/d, etc.  This whole thing has to be “doable” for me or it is not going to be something that I can maintain, so I am being realistic about what I can change and fit in with our lifestyle but most of it makes sense to me.  Like I said earlier, she initally did not recommend the Tamoxifin, but she called today and said that after much research and consulting, we may need to rethink that.  I’ll find out more when I talk to her.

I met with my family physician on Friday and she is going to try to get me in to see a new Oncologist.  She is not pleased with the fact that I am unable to discuss my concerns with my current doctor. She wants me to get a second opinion on all this drug stuff and then if I still want to go another route (take out my ovaries) than she will send me to a ob/gyn and go from there.  So things are progressing along and Tamoxifin is not completely out of the running yet!

I am starting to get my head around this next stage….going from cancer patient to cancer survivor!! I’m liking the sounds of the new title. I wouldn’t say I was never a compassionate person but being around and helping “sick” people or comforting them was not something I was comfortable with.  Having always been a “healthy” person I never really knew what to say to people or what they might need. During my treatments I remember reading Hebrews 3:12-19 which basically says that those who suffer most are able to comfort others.  Our goal thru suffering should be to learn all we can from what we have to endure so that we can inturn help others…as Jesus did.  WOW!  So I hope I have learned that lesson. 

Many of you have been asking about the young mother with Inflammatory breast cancer that I had asked prayer for.  She is doing okay…she has completed some chemo and is now getting radiation.  Apparantly they are trying to shrink the tumor which is attached to the breast bone before they do any type of surgery.  Her situation is very rare so everything they do is experimental.  Please continue to pray for her and her family.

Welcome

Welcome to the new Ladybug Farm blog site!

I am just learning all the features with this new site which is much more user friendly than my other site.  Stay tuned for more blogging….

I’m moving!

I have (finally) with Kim’s help (lots and lots) set up my new blog site:

www.ladybugfarm.wordpress.com

So ladybugfarm.blogspot.com will no longer be operational.
I am going in tonight to write my first blog….I am so excited. I will probably be doing some adjusting to it over the next little bit so don’t be alarmed if you see a different set up or color scheme everytime you tune in.

See you in the new site……

Merry Christmas!!

I think I may have found my “blogging problem”. I updated my blog to google so the normal things I used to do don’t seem to work anymore. I can text but I don’t seem to be able to load any photos or write a blog in picassa which is a real pain. I may have to switch to another blog site but I’ll keep you updated if I do. Quite frankly I just don’t have time right now to play around with it. Between going in and out of the city every day and getting ready for Christmas I don’t seem to have a spare moment.

I have completed 4 1/2 weeks of radiation and have 8 more sessions to go…Yippee! This takes me up to January 3 0r 4 with the holidays. They are really pleased with my lack of side effects and how my skin is reacting. God is good!!! They gave me some hydrocortizone cream today to help with the itching from the burn but other than that things are going great. The only thing I have noticed is when I get tired I don’t seem to have that second wind to keep going. My energy level is good but there are times when I hit the wall. All this I can live with. It truly is a walk in the park after the chemo treatments.

Looking back on the year it all just seems a little surreal. Did all this really happen to me? I walked into the NS Cancer Clinic the other day, just like I have all year long, and thought how weird it was…what am I doing here? I look around at all the “sick” people and think I don’t belong here. Its sometimes still hard to put my name and cancer together in the same sentence. That may sound strange to you guys. You would think after all these months I’d have a grip by now but there are times when this just doesn’t seem real or possible to me. I’m also starting to feel better, you know, physically more like myself, so some days it is even harder to fathom.

I have to thank my good friends Leanne, Beth, Vicki Lynn, Nancy and the ladies from Temple Baptist Church. Leanne delivered two large coolers of meals and my freezer is filled to overflowing. It has been put to good use during the radiation treatments. Before I leave in the morning I take a meal out to thaw and by the time Randy and the boys get home all they have to do is pop it in the oven. Every meal have been delicious and much appreciated.

Several women from Weston, my home church have brought me some Christmas baking. Mary Kaiser gave me a LARGE box of squares and treats and Ruth Henshaw made a beautiful cranberry cake. There have been so many over the months that have dropped off cookies and meals…Esther, Charmin, Shannon, Courtney, Kim, Lisa, Tammy…..I hate naming names because I know I will forget someone. Just know how much it was appreciated. I know how busy these women are with their own families and it just amazes me that they take the time to do this for us.

Well, the trees are up and the house is decorated, the presents are bought and wrapped, the cards are done and sent…I think I’m ready for Christmas. I LOVE this time of year. I love the process of getting ready as much as the actual day. I am getting more excited every day. Andrew came home from school today and told me he and his friend were talking about Santa and Andrew told him what Christmas was really all about…Jesus’ birthday. I am so proud of that kid.